Posted By:
Joe DrouillardHello Everyone,
Just got back from vacation, part of which was Cooperstown on Induction weekend. Definately less crowded and the weather was great.
I did pick up a few Ts from Ted and from Don Flewelling. Nice cards at a fair price. I was introduced to Don by Ted and was very impressed by the number of T206s and other Prewar cards he had for sale. I could have really made a lot of headway on my T206 collection if I had more money to spend, but there is always next year. I really didn't have a lot of time to shop the other vendors, but the few things that I looked at were priced very high. I don't know how most vendors sell any 1950-1970 cards at 10% off book price.
Don suggested that the place to sell prewar baseball cards was antique auctions instead of baseball card shows. I thought that was interesting. He also said it was a great place to gain access to private collections for sale.
I also made a pretty good dent on my single sign HOF baseball collection. I only collect autographed baseballs that are signed in front of me. I added twelve more to the collection this weekend. I only need Yaz, Lasorda, Kaline, Dick Williams, Koufax, Niekro, Stargell, Ripken, Banks, MacPhail, and Robin Yount to have all of the living HOFers. I suppose several of these will be difficult to get in the future, I don't recall ever seeing Yaztremski on HOF weekend. At least he doesn't sign.
Visiting the Hall itself is always a lot of fun. This year we viewed the second floor on Friday and the main hall on Sunday. I asked to see the stuff in the basement, but they told me (with a chuckle)that I would have to move to the next membership level just to have a look from the top of the stairs. As to places to eat: There is a nice restraunt right on the Lake by the tour boat. They have great steaks for a resonable price. My wife and I had a great time eating, shopping and just being together in baseball's Mecca on the holiest weekend of the year. Overall, it was a great time and I would recommend the pilgrimage to any baseball fan.
Best wishes,
Joe